More than 600 African migrants forced their way through the heavily fortified border fence separating the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, using circular saws, shears and mallets to cut through the wire.

German opposition parties have criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for not providing more detail of her discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of Russia’s military general staff Valery Gerasimov.

Italy's new infrastructure minister denounced on Tuesday (24 July) an ambitious, transalpine rail link as an enormous waste of public money and said he wanted to re-negotiate the project with neighbouring France.

British opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn will call on the government today (24 July) to back his vision for a new customs union with the European Union to avoid a "botched" Brexit leaving the country "in hock to Donald Trump".

Spain's conservatives shifted to the right on Saturday (21 July), electing a traditionalist as leader as they seek to re-establish a clear political identity less than two months after being removed from government.

German industry groups warned on Sunday (22 July), before European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker meets US President Donald Trump this week, that tariffs the United States has imposed or is threatening to introduce risk harming America itself.

European finance leaders called for progress on global rules to tax the digital economy at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Argentina on Sunday (22 July), putting them at odds with US counterparts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday (19 July) warned NATO against cultivating closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia, saying such a policy was irresponsible and would have unspecified consequences for the alliance.

British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived yesterday (19 July) in Northern Ireland, whose border with EU-member Ireland has become one of the biggest impediments to reaching a deal to leave the European Union.

Spain's Supreme Court dropped a European arrest warrant for former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Thursday (19 July) after Germany refused to extradite him to face a charge of rebellion for declaring Catalonia an independent state last year.

US President Donald Trump yesterday (19 July) criticised the European Union over a record $5 billion fine EU antitrust regulators imposed on Google, saying the bloc was taking advantage of the United States.

In separate statements on the same day (19 July), US President Donald Trump and his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin blamed forces within the United States for marring what they called the success of their first summit.

The European Commission has expressed concern, but no clear condemnation, of a controversial “nation-state” law passed by the Parliament of Israel. The law states that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country and strips Arabic of the status of an official language.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies, who are pressing her to toughen up immigration policy, should remember their Christian roots and show a sense of responsibility towards the poor and weak, the head of the Catholic Church in Germany said.

Boris Johnson, who quit as Britain's former foreign minister last week, accused Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday of planning a phoney Brexit that would betray voters by failing to take the country completely out of the European Union.

Belgium is being offered a possible role in future European combat jet developments if it picks the Eurofighter Typhoon over the US-built F-35, in a fierce contest to rearm the country's air force, a senior official with Britain's BAE Systems said.

More than a billion people are at risk from a lack of air conditioning and refrigeration to keep them cool and to preserve food and medicines as global warming brings more high temperatures, a study showed on Monday (16 July).